


Eve

by Blue_Storm (Spillz)



Series: Zutara Month 2016 [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Zutara Month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 12:52:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9124534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spillz/pseuds/Blue_Storm
Summary: When Zuko betrays his father to join the Avatar, Fire Nation propaganda paints over his honourable motives, instead blaming his betrayal on foolish teenage lust.The object of these "passions" finds this out on her wanted poster, and Zuko changes the subject with a Fire Nation legend.





	

_There is an old Fire Nation legend that tells us that the first two humans to bend never should have._

_The lion turtle wanted to test them, to see if they humans were the trustworthy sort and so he planted a tree of Fire Fruit outside their village_

_“This tree-“ He told them “contains the power of the dragons, and if you were to steal from it, you shall all be cursed until the end of days”_

_The humans mostly trusted the lion turtle and respected his law, writing it into their own._

_For every day that they went without the Fire Fruit the Lion Turtle would plant a new tree each time, promising more power, but equally horrific curses. And each day the villagers respected the turtle and left the fruit untouched._

_After thirty days of this test, the Lion Turtle decided that he did trust the humans, and, as a symbol of this trust he left the orchard of Fire Fruit outside the village when he moved on elsewhere. For generations, the village kept the law and the trees remained untouched. Until Eve._  

_Eve was by far the smartest girl in the village, even as a child she had questioned everything until she could accept the answer. But with the Fire Fruit she never could, what was this curse the Lion Turtle had promised? What would happen if you consumed the power of the dragons? And why leave the fruit here is he already thought they could be trusted? There were too many parts of the tale that didn’t make sense._

_When Eve was a young woman, engaged to a young man, she decided that there was only one way to find out the truth about the Fire Fruit._

_“I am going to eat one,” she told her fiancé “I cannot survive without knowing the truth” Her fiancé, who was as handsome as Eve was smart, was no match for her in debate and found himself going with her to the orchard._

_In the early hours of the morning, the Fire Fruit that hung from the thirty trees were glowing brighter than the stars that hung above. Eve, balanced on her fiance’s shoulders pulled one down. It was lighter that she expected but as warm as its name suggested. She barely had it in her hand a moment before she took a bite._

_Eve’s description of its taste was illustrious. “Like love and sex and spice, warmth and happiness and strength, like riding a dragon or jumping in a hot spring naked!” She had gushed, and her fiancé couldn’t refuse. Soon he was biting into his own Fire Fruit, and, while he was not as skilled at description as Eve, he is said to have agreed with her statement._

_Eve and her fiancé returned to the village as dawn should have been breaking over the horizon. But the sun didn’t come, or rather, it might as well not have. For, the whole sky was blacked out by smoke that spewed from the mountains._

_The villagers stood in the streets, staring up as the mountain began to spit flames and rubble. Mutterings of worry and confusion filled the air and the lingering taste of Fire Fruit in Eve and her fiance’s mouths turned to ash._

_“This is the curse” Her fiancé whispered, but his words seemed to carry like the wind as the whole village turned to them in terror._

_“They stole the power of the dragons!”_

_“We were warned of this, foolish youths”_

_“Our most ancient law…”_

_“Cast them out! Let them take the curse with them!”_

_But even as their words grew more spiteful, the mountain spat out a ball of fire that landed on the roof next to Eve._  

 _Without thinking, she waved her hand and the flame was gone, and the villagers were silent. Eve herself was almost speechless, for now, she had the answer to all of her questions, what was the curse, and what happened is you consumed the power of the dragon. But Eve was too smart to stay silent for long, she could see a river of fire inching its was down the mountain towards them and she knew what had to be done._  

_She marched the whole village down to the orchard and insisted they all take a bite of the Fire Fruit, some refused, lest they anger the mountain further, but most had seen what Eve had done and were eager to gain the power she held._

_The river of fire was closer by now and the heat that came off it felt like it could melt the very moon like ice in a tight fist.  But Eve did not back off, she raised her hands again and started to cool the river of fire. Slowly the orange began to turn to black and it stopped moving so fast. The others caught on quickly, copying Eve to freeze the river of fire into rock. It was long, hot, uncomfortable work but by the time the sun was setting that day they had done it and the village was safe._

 

_Eve was remembered as the first fire bender, but also as a tale of the cost of power,  as just as we must thank her for our bending, we must curse her for the mountains that spit flames in anger._

 

* * *

 

“So, them calling me ' _The enticing Eve of our Prince'_  means?” Katara asked as Zuko put the scroll down

“I am a foolish boy who recklessly went against our culture and endangered his own nation for the sake of pleasure and power offered by a wily woman.” Zuko said with a shrug “Eve is mostly pretty popular, but she’s also a cautionary tale about being too power hungry. Mother liked to tell it, Father despised it”

“Go figure,” Suki said, budging closer to Katara to get a real look at the wanted poster that had started off this whole storytime.

“I mean, I think there are worse comparisons they could have made,” Toph said, her own wanted poster had called her a noble girl turned feral, “Eve comes off pretty well in that story”

“Well the fiancé doesn’t, he’s just a pretty idiot who barely even matters to the lesson” Zuko grumbled, slumping back into the couch.

“That’s sounds accurate to me,” Toph said with a grin “I mean, I can’t speak on the pretty part but I trust Katara’s judgement”

“Toph!” Katara went to kick Toph under the table, but as always Toph managed to avoid her.

“Why do they think he joined us because of you?” Aang asked Katara, worry clouding his face

“They don’t Aang, it’s propaganda to make us look bad” She assured him, but she couldn’t help but spare a quick glance in Zuko’s direction, had she influenced his decision? Maybe not directly, but their time in the catacombs must have factored into it somehow.

“It’s propaganda to make Zuko look bad, Katara is the legendarily clever seductress famed for her bending prowess and strategic brilliance” Toph corrected.

“And Zuko is a lovestruck fool” Sokka added reaching over to ruffle Zuko’s hair, Zuko batted his hand away and glared at him.

“A _pretty_ lovestruck fool" Suki reminded them, wiggling her eyebrows at Katara. She was not quick enough to avoid the kick Katara aimed at her shin, but she was too busy laughing to pay it much attention anyway.

Years later, when the war was won and the Gaang were world leaders and war heroes, their wanted posters would be framed in museums across the four nations. When Fire Lord Zuko and Master Katara announced their engagement there were some who looked at those old posters and wondered if perhaps Ozai had been right all those years ago, that maybe the Avatar wasn’t the only person Zuko had left his home for.

 

**Author's Note:**

> A kind of Avatar version of the "Adam and Eve" story, my take on today's ZK month theme.


End file.
